To Brine or Not to Brine, That is the Question.....

Driller

Okay, I am finally getting the temperature control thing done thanks for the feedback.

Now, the first couple of things I have smoked have turned out wonderfully juicy, tasty and way, way, way too salty (for my taste).  Is it really necessary to "brine"?  For those of us who do not live with a salt shaker in their hip pocket do we even need to do this step?

1. Or, are the "brines"  basically marinades and one could leave the salt out of the recipes?   
2. Is it the soaking that allows for the moistness of the final dish?

Thanks ahead of time and look forward to the replies.

Woodchunk

In the no camp unless curing fish by smoking

Carolina Q

I have never brined anything. Ever. Then I had to go on a lo sodium diet so even if I wanted to, I wouldn't. And I have never had egged food (or Weber'd or Oven'd) food that wasn't juicy and delicious. I think brining is seriously overhyped. 

EggHill

The reason that brining is so effective in making your meats so so so juicy that the juices flow like the mind of Bruce Lee is because of the affect of the salt on muscle fibers. In a normal unbrined... turkey for example, when you cook the meat the muscle fibers heat up and contract squeezing the delicious succulent juices out and down and inevitably falling into the drip pan that you’ve placed on to your plate setter to keep them from burning and ruining that gorgeous smoked flavour. Back to the topic at hand. Anyway, when you brine the turkey you are causing these muscle fibers to begin degrading which prevents these delicious meats from being able to squeeze out the nectar of the BGE gods. In hindsight a better option (IMO) using something high in acid and a lot less salty like lime juice or vinegar that can break down the proteins into sugars and a bit of butter for some minor salinity, inject that the night before for a beautifully juicy meat. If you have an extra egg on hand (I don’t at the moment) I would recommend kicking it up to about 500-650 and searing the meat after applying a glaze to create a jacket around the meat and seal in that flavor juice, unless you are doing a smoke in which case you would want the meat exposed so it can absorb as much smoke flavour as possible.

Mickey

No

RedSkip

Chicken for my house is a must, everything else not so much.

Botch

@Driller, what strength brine were you using, for how long, but most importantly what kind of meat?
I've never brined beef or fish, but usually pork and sometimes chicken; I think they come out better (and I have brined one of two pork chops before grilling both, so I have a direct, side-by-side comparison telling me brining was better).  

EggHill

@Botch I found that it doesn’t really affect the meat much when you change the salinity percentage except for the amount of saltiness. The moisture levels don’t seem to change much beyond that 8% salt by weight of brine is usually plenty but some people go as high as 35%.

bigegger

On some triple-D episodes some briskets and slabs of meats are brined for up to 2 weeks..i wonder if there is any truth to that or if it really makes a difference

Mattman3969

What meats are you brining?   Unless it's fresh turkey/chicken I see no need.  Cook it to the correct temp and you get juicy meat.   Pork or steak I'll do dry brine for a couple of hrs.  

YukonRon

I brine pork and poultry. I find the results to be positive. Brines and marinades are part of my cooking repertoire and have been for years. I have not seen the first instance that would change my mind, because the results have been excellent.
Personal choice, I suppose. Good for you, that choose not to.

gdenby

EggHill is right that the salt begins to break down the muscle fiber. But the other half of it is that the salt is hygroscopic.  At first, the salt in the bring draws water out of the meat. But then as the salt begins to penetrate into the meat, it draws more water in with it, and holds it more tightly in the meat than the meat would.

Most meats used for 'Q don't need to be brined, because they have enough internal fat and connective tissue to keep the cooked meat succulent. Cuts, light poultry white meat, or pork loin, that have little or no fat, and are a solid mass of muscle do benefit.

If what you are making is too salty (somewhat a matter of taste) you may be using too much salt and/or letting the process go on too long.

Look up "equilibrium brining." It is a method that prevents high levels of salinity. Typically, there's no more than .5% - 2% of salt to the weight of the meat. An average turkey breast would need less than 2/3 oz of salt. But it does take longer than usual.

Driller

Thank you everyone for you comments.  I think I have a direction in which to go now.